The Aquabats! Power Belt

[JoeLuna33]

Not sure how many costumes of bands show up around here, outside of KISS maybe, but I thought this would be fun to post.

I am a fan of the band The Aquabats! and have been for a while. I cosplayed as a bat at WonderCon this past weekend in Anaheim Ca using my friend's vintage power belt from waaaaaay back. I have never owned one of my own and they don't sell them anymore so it was time to do what we do best around here. Build it myself!

Incase you don't know, these are The Aquabats! (yes the ! is part of the name)

Here are my son and myself at WonderCon:

I started by taking measurements from the vintage belt and looking at screen shots of the new The Aquabats! Super Show tv show as the belts have evolved over the years

After taking my measurements I went to my vinyl sign software and cut out some patterns:

I cut out the basic shape of the main silver part of the belt. Yes the newer belts are flat across the bottom not curved like the old ones:

I cut out all of the basic shapes and laid them out to get an idea of what it was goning to look like:

The little bad dude logo was done in a high heat transfer onto the white pleather:

I am making 2 belts and this is a special panel I did for my friend who is an Aquacadet:

I began cutting holes in the silver main belt and fitting things in from behind:

After cutting the black back section of the belt and getting everything double sided taped together here is the what the finished belt will look like:

Now I just need to find a seamstress in the San Diego area to finish it up for me as I have no idea how to sew. Then its on to belt #2.

Comments and questions are of course invited.....

 

[Eopie Herder]

That's fantastic! What did you use to make the headgear...it looks like they use neoprene.


edit: I'm not a longtime fan, I'm, a new one as I just started watching the show on the Hub and did research and read all about their history and such. I've got that damn "Burger Rain" song stuck in my head all the damn time now!

 

[justinbauler]

thats awesome!

In the top pic is that when travis barker was the drummer?

 

[JoeLuna33]

Thanks guys!

@Eopie Herder, the helmet, goggles, and rash guard are available from the band's merch site. The helmet and goggles are made of wet suit material.

@justinbauler, that picture is a publicity shot from the new show on The Hub network. Travis Barker was the drummer way back before he was in Blink-182.

 

[M Constantine]

That looks great!

The belts that they used for the Super Show are very interesting. They're much more complicated and detailed than they used to be.

Some information about the new belts:

• All of the colors on the belt are different layers of vinyl, cut and sewn together.
• There and three different variations of the belt, two used in Ep. 1, and the other used in the rest.
• There are actually three squares on each side, unlike the two on the design from the '90s.
• Each of the squares has a "Utility" (guitar pick, pocket, etc.)
• The belts were made to custom lengths to fit the various girths of the different 'bats.
• Eaglebones' pick holder is on his left, due to his left-handedness.
• The pockets are 100% real fake pockets.

Here are some reference pictures:
Belt used throughout most of Ep. 1

Belt used for parts of Ep. 1 and "action shots"

Belt used throughout rest of series

A drawing of the Pocket layout (the empty square should be a "pocket" as well.)

 

[JoeLuna33]

Thanks for the info! You have some more detailed pictures than I could find. I did notice a lot if differences in all the shots I could find but figured it was angle, etc causing the changes. I noticed at least 2 belts as the first belt they wore with the blue rash guards had a blue circle behind the bat. I had noticed the pockets and pick holders but omitted them from my design as they would be unnecessary for my purposes.

Thanks again for the pictures!

 

[RubyJanna]

I love this! I been a Aquabats fan since I was 12 and now im 26. I got out my sewing machine yesterday and made a very crummy verison using craft foam and a laminated printout of the bat logo and sewed it on. Yours is so much better! I wish I could make one this nice!

 

[CaptainGeech]

I have loved the Aquabats for about 10 years now, so of course i jumped on the opportunity to introduce my son to them. He's 3, has been listening to the cds for about a year now and never misses an episode of the show.

I bought him his own rashguard, helmet & mask (It didn't show up for a while...but Spike sent me a message, and told me it's on it's way!)

I decided to attempt to make him a Powerbelt, i went to my local fabric store about bought black, silver and white vinyl fabric as well as "non-stich stiching" glue and velcro.

I just measured and cut each piece of vinyl, and pieced it all together using the fabric glue.

I used an Xacto knife and made everything, including the Aquabat out of the vinyl fabric, which seemed to help to make it all look like 1 piece once complete, rather than different textures pieced together.

This is my finished product, which isn't an exact replica due to his size (I made it custom to his waist, so I didn't have enough room to make it exact).

Since this worked so well, I plan on making one for myself, and attempting to recreate the pockets exactly, and I figured I would share my results with anyone on here looking to make one as well.

Finished product:

My Son Wearing His Belt, And Temporary Helmet/Mask (Until the real ones get delivered):

 

[RubyJanna]

I finished the belt I made for my boyfriend! It felt like it took forever! But I am happy with how it turned out. Now I am making some power belts for my nieces and nephew.

 

[MasterRoshi]

The Aquabats are SUPER RAD!

 

[RubyJanna]

Yes they are SUPER RAD!!

 

[FudgeMando]

Yes they are SUPER RAD!!

r u just trying to get your post counter up

 

[RejectRanger]

I love finding people who have the love for The Aquabats! as I do. I'm from the East coast and it is a rarity for me to find someone who knows of them. I try my best to educate those I bring the goodness of The Aquabats! to. They need to know the way.

I'm new to all the craft making and stuff, but very interested. This is going to be one of the first projects I plan on making in the near future.

 

[M Constantine]

Janna, That cam out really good! GOOD JORRRB!

 

[PrimoOptimoso]

OK I need to look up this Aquabats thing - this thread looks like too much fun for me to be missing out on.

 

[JoeLuna33]

Its been a while since I added an update. So I had everything cut and ready for a while. Not sure how to proceed I decided to borrow a sewing machine from my grandmother and give it a shot....

After some learning pains or issues I started moving along....

I got much better as I went and here is what I ended up with. My first time ever sewing!

Only 2 more to go before SDCC next week!

 

[MarcusLaMont]

Sorry to dig this up, but I just ran across this thread. I am a propmaker for the show and just wanted to confirm M Constantine's information to be true.

@RubyJanna, that belt is Awesome! It's pretty much spot on!

There is an episode that may or not have been released yet where they use a button on their belts that is only present when they need to activate their stealth mode (they don't actually disappear, but rather their costumes change to purple). I'll see if I can find some pictures I took after I finished the buttons. I used a piece of 1" copper tubing, shot it silver and cut some 1/4" milk acrylic to fit the inside diameter and put a couple purple Led's behind it on a remote switch.

 

[MooCriket]

That is awesome^! Love watching the show with my children, and I'm guilty of watching it by myself as well . Fun show!

 

[MarcusLaMont]

That is awesome^! Love watching the show with my children, and I'm guilty of watching it by myself as well . Fun show!

That's actually pretty common, especially for younger parents. It's toted as a kids show but's secretly aimed at 20/30 somethings.

 

[RubyJanna]

Sorry to dig this up, but I just ran across this thread. I am a propmaker for the show and just wanted to confirm M Constantine's information to be true.

@RubyJanna, that belt is Awesome! It's pretty much spot on!

There is an episode that may or not have been released yet where they use a button on their belts that is only present when they need to activate their stealth mode (they don't actually disappear, but rather their costumes change to purple). I'll see if I can find some pictures I took after I finished the buttons. I used a piece of 1" copper tubing, shot it silver and cut some 1/4" milk acrylic to fit the inside diameter and put a couple purple Led's behind it on a remote switch.

Thanks so much for all the info! I would love to see some photos!